"All that a man achieves and all that he fails
to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts," wrote
James Allen in his book As a Man Thinketh.

"A man's weakness and strength, purity and impurity, are his own, and not
another man's; they are brought about by himself, and not by another; and
they can only be
altered by himself, never by another. His condition is also
his own, and not another man's. His suffering and his
happiness
are evolved
from within. As he thinks, so he is; as he continues to think, so he
remains.

A strong man cannot help a weaker unless that
weaker is willing to be helped, and even then the weak man must become
strong of himself; he must, by his own efforts, develop the strength which
he admires in another. None but himself can alter his condition.

It has been usual for men to think and to say,
"Many men are slaves because one is an oppressor; let us hate the
oppressor." Now, however, there is amongst an increasing few a tendency to
reverse this judgment, and to say, "One man is an oppressor because many are
slaves; let us despise the slaves."

... All
achievements, whether in the business,
intellectual, or spiritual world, are the result of definitely directed
thought, are governed by the same law and are of the same method; the only
difference lies in the object of attainment."